'Dunkable' electric elements

[vdog]

Looking to upgrade our heating capacity on the kettle, and rather than welding in a new port for an extra element, I was wondering about whether it's possible to get a 'dunkable' element from somewhere so we can just chuck it in the top to get the wort up to the boil, then pull it back out and leave the existing 2.4kw element to do the rest.

Anyone know whether these things exist, and if they do, where to get them from? Else, is there a way to put an extra HWC element in without having to weld?

[James P]

Immersion heater.....

[Pilgrim]

Try your local electrical wholesalers, they should have immersion heaters that you can hook on to the side of your pot. I've got a small one which used to be sold to make individual cups of tea, but it's a bit small for what you want. I have seen larger ones at the local electrical supply stores.

[vdog]

The main problem is the length - it needs to be able to drop down to about 45cm from the lip of the kettle to be where we want it. It's looking more and more like it'll have to be a welding job with a standard element...

[Nick T]

Can you not use a weldless system - cut a hole, poke the element in, place a gasket on the internal side ansd seal with a large nut and some silicone? (This is what I am hoping to do with a heat exchanger I am building).

Are you upgrading one of those 40 litre electic urns with inbuilt 2.4KW element? Does this mean that they are not good enough for use as an electric kettle?

[vdog]

In the end that's what we've decided to do - the sparky brother-in-law is putting in an extra 2.4kw. Not using an urn - we're set up with a converted hot water cylinder, and the current 2.7kw element is pretty slow getting 90 litres up to the boil. I'd imagine the 40L urns would be fine with what's already in them.